Basic Theory - Raising preflop
 

This is hopefully going to be the first in a series of basic theory/discussion threads.

Micro Stakes NL is all about learning the basics, laying good foundations for building a solid winning game.

The widely touted standard for preflop raising at 2p2 is 4BB +1 per limper with any hand you want to play for a raise.

Why exactly is this the standard?

Is there a better one we can use?

and doesn't NLTAP recommend varying your preflop raise amounts.. ? [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

...

to answer those questions (and possibly a few others) lets work through the reasons why we raise preflop and figure out what an ideal raise might be for each situation.

Reasons to Raise preflop:
i) for value - we have a good starting hand, that stands a good chance of being the best hand at SD, so we want to make the pot as big as possible by the time we get to the SD.
ii) ...

Re: Basic Theory - Raising preflop
 

Matrix,
I like this basic theory thread -hopefully it can become a series...

2. To limit the field - AA, KK play better HU rather than 5-way

Re: Basic Theory - Raising preflop
 

3. Because they fold so damned often to a cbet.

Re: Basic Theory - Raising preflop
 

reasons to raise:

1. value
2. deception
3. improve your equity (limit the field)

Re: Basic Theory - Raising preflop
 

Theoretical side:

- Raise to offer limpers a poor price to continue with the hand
- Raise to isolate the limpers with your position on them

Practical side:

4BB+1/limper works out to about a pot-size raise (+1/2 BB or so depending on stakes).

While NLHTAP makes the case for sizing one's raises (which I completely agree with), if we assume for uSNL that we just want a standard rule of thumb, then the question then becomes how much. And we want to answer, of course, in terms of pot size.

Dan Harrington will say that raising 3BB to open is fine, so maybe his view is that somewhat less than a pot raise is adequate. But many on these boards will argue that, if you have the goods, you boost your EV against donks by raising more preflop, because they'll call anyway.

So strictly as a rule of thumb, 4BB+1/limper works out to be about right, as a balance of all the theoretical reasons to raise: you're setting your opponents' price such that you're reasonably happy to see them take any action -- fold and give you the pot, or continue with what you believe to be an inferior hand and/or inferior position.

Re: Basic Theory - Raising preflop
 

To gain the initative in the hand.

Re: Basic Theory - Raising preflop
 

Most of your money at micro stakes comes from two sources. The preflop raise followed by a cbet bet on the flop and pounding calling machines for as big a bet as you can get away with on every street. So let's take a look at these two situations.

(I'd like to note that these are over simplified but serve to prove a point)

1. C-bets

If you could guarantee that your opponents would fold the flop every time you cbet for any amount then you'd want as much money in the pot already and to then make a tiny bet to pick up the huge pot. Sadly this isn't the case because there is an upper limit to what most limping donkeys will call and the amount you need to bet to get them to lay down on the flop.

At a typical micro stakes table you will find the limpers happy to call raises up to around the 4BB + 1 per limper range. After that the amount they fold goes up dramatically, so what we are doing is putting as much as we can in the pot now so we can take an equal amount from them on the flop with our cbets. If you were to bet 3BB + 1 per limper when you could be making it 4BB then you are missing 1BB every time you take it with the cbet.


2. Pounding calling stations

You have AK and are up against a calling machine with KQ and you know that he can't let go of top pair unless you overbet the pot. Voila! The magic of creating whatever situation I want brings a flop of K82 rainbow. He checks, you pot it, he calls and the turn blanks. He checks, you pot it, he calls and the river blanks. You get as much as you can into the pot.

So how much is as much as you can?

Let's imagine the SB disappears in rake and that villain is in the BB to make the numbers easier. You raise the button to 3BB and he calls (pot is 6BB).

Going by the sequence above -

Flop (6BB) -> You bet 6BB he calls 6BB.
Turn (18BB) -> You bet 18BB he calls 18BB.
River (54BB) -> You bet 54BB he calls 54BB.

You take just over 80BBs from him but have to pot every street to do it. But when was the last time you were able to pot *every* street against someone like this?

Now imagine the same thing happens but you raise to 4BB preflop and he calls.

Flop (8BB) -> You bet 8BB, he calls 8BB.
Turn (24BB) -> You bet 24BB, he calls 24BB.
River (72BB) -> You push and he calls.

By raising 1BB more preflop we were able to pound the calling station for nearly 20BB more by the end (assuming 100BB stacks of course).

Yes, these numbers and situations are greatly simplified but hopefully they show the point of squeezing out that extra big blind preflop and why 4BB+1 per limper is better than 3BB+1per limper.

Re: Basic Theory - Raising preflop
 

[ QUOTE ]
2. Pounding calling stations

You have AK and are up against a calling machine with KQ and you know that he can't let go of top pair unless you overbet the pot. Voila! The magic of creating whatever situation I want brings a flop of K82 rainbow. He checks, you pot it, he calls and the turn blanks. He checks, you pot it, he calls and the river blanks. You get as much as you can into the pot.

So how much is as much as you can?

Let's imagine the SB disappears in rake and that villain is in the BB to make the numbers easier. You raise the button to 3BB and he calls (pot is 6BB).

Going by the sequence above -

Flop (6BB) -> You bet 6BB he calls 6BB.
Turn (18BB) -> You bet 18BB he calls 18BB.
River (54BB) -> You bet 54BB he calls 54BB.

You take just over 80BBs from him but have to pot every street to do it. But when was the last time you were able to pot *every* street against someone like this?

Now imagine the same thing happens but you raise to 4BB preflop and he calls.

Flop (8BB) -> You bet 8BB, he calls 8BB.
Turn (24BB) -> You bet 24BB, he calls 24BB.
River (72BB) -> You push and he calls.

By raising 1BB more preflop we were able to pound the calling station for nearly 20BB more by the end (assuming 100BB stacks of course).

Yes, these numbers and situations are greatly simplified but hopefully they show the point of squeezing out that extra big blind preflop and why 4BB+1 per limper is better than 3BB+1per limper.

[/ QUOTE ]

[OT]
I think overbetting the pot is not so bad either. I never do it, but sometimes I see players overbetting the pot and getting a call from someone w/ TPWK. A lot of villains just don't notice the potsize or think that you're bluffing by overbetting.
[/OT]

Re: Basic Theory - Raising preflop
 

I use the standard 4BB+1 per limper-rule. The reason to add a BB per limper is because the pot is already bigger, so my raise needs to be bigger to get more people to fold.

Maybe in higher stakes games it is wise to vary the size of the raises. But to make that work you need villains who notice the players around them, and I don't think you will find a lot of those at MCNL. Their perception stops at who-raises-often (if that). A lot of the donks at this level are 0-level thinkers at best.

Re: Basic Theory - Raising preflop
 

I believe Harrington's 3BB generally applies more to tourneys where stacks are shorter in general. 3BB in a deeper game is not quite as effective in balancing building/cutting the field.

Re: Basic Theory - Raising preflop
 

1. value
2. initiative
3. isolate specific players

all the other reasons are meh

Re: Basic Theory - Raising preflop
 

Here's my few cents, it might've been said here already.

You raise preflop:
1) For value
2) To improve your position
3) Sometimes to limit the field (You don't mind worse hands calling and some hands also play good in multiway pots so this isn't necessarily true)
4) To gain control of the hand
5) To win it right there
6) To cut down your opponent's implied odds
7) To isolate donkeys

On raise sizes:
4 BB + 1 BB/Limper rule comes from very standard math. 4 BB in an unopened pot is a slight overbet compared to a potsize bet (which is call + the pot then - like bet pot button on UB, meaning that PSR would be to 3.5 BB). Adding 1 BB for each limper/poster keeps the ratio around the same, keeping it as 0.5 BB overbet, offering opponents around 2-to-1 odds preflop.

Raising less will usually gives them better odds (implied ones). Harrington's 3 BB rule or 2.5 BB rule is for late stages of tournaments, because the stacks aren't so deep and a smaller raise represents a larger % of your opponents stacks. In deep stack, it's generally better to raise more for value.

Varying raise sizes is essentially pointless on low stakes although +- BB can be good for achieving a specific goal, such as winning one bet from SB in BB vs SB confrontation.

Say that in 6-max game, everyone folds to SB and he completes and you're in BB with a random holding. Raising to 5 BB instead of standard 4 seems to have essentially larger success rate (I might be a bit result oriented on this one, but this far it has proven to be a bit better). Better enough to compensate on the times it will get called. Afterall, you have position in the hand.

Okay, I guess there was some info on my view on raising.

Re: Basic Theory - Raising preflop
 

As long as we are talking about raising - do most people here always open raise? I have been trying limping with SC's early but it doesn't feel right. I'm referring to 6 max games.

Re: Basic Theory - Raising preflop
 

[ QUOTE ]
As long as we are talking about raising - do most people here always open raise? I have been trying limping with SC's early but it doesn't feel right. I'm referring to 6 max games.

[/ QUOTE ]

If I'm first in it'll be with a raise and I fold SCs in EP.

Re: Basic Theory - Raising preflop
 

I started 6-max recently and I generally try not to open limp. If its good enough to limp, then I raise -- when I raise I do a standard 4BB. This gives me the initiative on the hand and usually I can take the pot down with a cbet.

Re: Basic Theory - Raising preflop
 

[ QUOTE ]
and doesn't NLTAP recommend varying your preflop raise amounts.. ?

[/ QUOTE ]

Actually, this standard naturally leads to varying your PF amount. That's kind of the beauty of it. When you raise it to 6bb with 2 limpers and 9bb with 5 limpers... I don't think most observers realize why your bet size is varying. So you have some deception.

[ QUOTE ]
to answer those questions (and possibly a few others) lets work through the reasons why we raise preflop and figure out what an ideal raise might be for each situation.


[/ QUOTE ]

I think adding other situations where you raise different is when your raise starts giving away information to observant opponents.

Re: Basic Theory - Raising preflop
 

[ QUOTE ]
As long as we are talking about raising - do most people here always open raise? I have been trying limping with SC's early but it doesn't feel right. I'm referring to 6 max games.

[/ QUOTE ]

The problem with suited connecters in early position isn't so much what happens preflop. Usually it will just get limped through, or even if it doesn't, you can stand a raise. The problem is post-flop, its really tough to play because you can't end the action. They are different than small pairs because they make sets on flops, and suited connecters make draws on flops. Limp small pairs all you want, try to play suited connecters in position.

Re: Basic Theory - Raising preflop
 

A large portion of my total winrate is derived from C-bets.

I'd say that one of the most important reasons to raise preflop is to gain fold equity on the flop.

Re: Basic Theory - Raising preflop
 

[ QUOTE ]

and doesn't NLTAP recommend varying your preflop raise amounts.. ? [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]



[/ QUOTE ]

Bad players vary their raise and give away too much information to me.

If you are a beginer you are way better off using a standard.

Of course a good thinking player can disguise their hand if they think someone is paying attention, However this is not a good plan for micro stakes since usually 4 out of your 5 opponnents is only paying attention to their own hand.

Also, you ask if there is a better standard.

Sometimes I just raise 6xbb because theres 1 or 2 players seeing > 80% of the flops. I think the standard is a good starting point but theres certianly room to adjust based on how your table is playing.

Re: Basic Theory - Raising preflop
 

Against standard calling stations, there is no reason to vary your pfr sizes, other than finding out how much they'll call.

Re: Basic Theory - Raising preflop
 

honestly, if i ever feel that I have enough time to start varying my preflop bet sizes, i usually open up more tables until that feeling goes away.

Re: Basic Theory - Raising preflop
 

If the 2+2 standard for a pf raise is 4bb +1 per limper, whats the standard for the c-bet on the flop?

Re: Basic Theory - Raising preflop
 

[ QUOTE ]
If the 2+2 standard for a pf raise is 4bb +1 per limper, whats the standard for the c-bet on the flop?

[/ QUOTE ]

2/3-3/4 pot

Re: Basic Theory - Raising preflop
 

[ QUOTE ]
I think adding other situations where you raise different is when your raise starts giving away information to observant opponents.

[/ QUOTE ]
Exactly, Ideally, If I can assume my opponents are paying no attention whatsoever to my pf play, I would raise hands like AQ (which don't like huge pots) around 4bb and AA around 8bb.

Likewise, While using a consistent cbet size may work best against decent opponents, when I'm playing 25NL donks, I often vary my cbet sizes to risk less when I have air and to build the pot when I have a hand.

Re: Basic Theory - Raising preflop
 

[ QUOTE ]
If the 2+2 standard for a pf raise is 4bb +1 per limper, whats the standard for the c-bet on the flop?

[/ QUOTE ]

I make a PSB almost every time.

Re: Basic Theory - Raising preflop
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
If the 2+2 standard for a pf raise is 4bb +1 per limper, whats the standard for the c-bet on the flop?

[/ QUOTE ]

I make a PSB almost every time.

[/ QUOTE ]

well, you can probably give yourself a rebate on c-bets and not give anything away by balancing it with the times your practicing pot control.

Re: Basic Theory - Raising preflop
 

[ QUOTE ]
Maybe in higher stakes games it is wise to vary the size of the raises.

[/ QUOTE ]
I don't know. Whenever I'm railbirding the huge games, I always notice that there is a standard raise (I think usually around 2.5-3.5BB)

Re: Basic Theory - Raising preflop
 

I raise or fold.

Re: Basic Theory - Raising preflop
 

Hello, my name is King Spew and I come from The Dark Side.

I have read the principle that "computer modeling has shown that it is often more correct to see the flop as cheaply as possible" Ken Warren Winner's Guide to Texas HE pg 53. I think this can be taken too far to the extreme, but I believe in Micro, this 'tactic' may have greater use than at higher stakes. I also believe that as we are learning, that "tight is right". Loosen up after you are bulletproof.

We in Micro just got our Learner's Permit. Let's drive a little slower and SAFER to start. The largest problem related to PFR in Micro IMO (I play 6Max) is that playahs get too committed to the pot after they have raised it up with speculative hands. The inexperienced playah that raises PF with 8 [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]7 [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] in CO, gets called in three places, flop comes K [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]8 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]5 [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] and the SB leads off for a ¾ pot bet that gets called before getting to our playah. As a beginner, he's kinda stuck. He's very likely way behind either opp, but he's got extra money in the pot that he still thinks is his. He's most likely to call this bet (incorrectly) and get sucked into an ever expanding pot with a marginal hand. (At this point, stack size, opp tendencies, etc haven't been addressed because MOST beginners and a large minority of Micros aren't aware that these are issues yet!).

I have found a strategy that has worked fairly well at the Micro tables (stars and party). I will raise PF with my top pair type hands and limp everything else I would play. With the top pair hands I will 100% PSB Cbet.... AA or AJo whether the flop hit or not. If I get called on a 9 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]8 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]7 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] flop, then I'll have to evaluate the turn card. But usually you'll see a Q [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]9 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]3 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] flop and have great success with your CBets. Point is, I'm getting practice using Cbets (a) with the goods or (b) without //// and I'm practicing post-flop aggressive play with strong cards that require protection PF and on the flop.

Speculative/drawing hands make more money on the later streets. If you limp in a majority of times with 8 [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]7 [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] or 33, fit or fold is a fairly good strategy to apply. As you begin to learn how to read villain's range, you might actually pay to see the turn but in general, you would be fighting an uphill battle.
As a side note for the 6Max Micro tables, I have noticed that the general level of play has gone up over the past year. It's still GREAT [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img], but there is usually another decent playah or two sitting with you. When you hit your set on the flop, you are not as likely to stack a shark as you would a minnow so you have to factor that into the equation.

The point of my ramblings I guess is that the Uber aggressive PF style that is all the rage here on 2+2 is a great style and will work INCREDIBLY well on the micro tables. IMO, it requires better post-flop skills to really pull it off and requires the playah to pay close attention to table dynamics. The problem with this is that we (2+2) are also espousing a multi-tabling experience. Tough to do both as a beginner. Paying cheaply to see more flops is not a terrible strategy in the Micros IMHO.

Re: Basic Theory - Raising preflop
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
If the 2+2 standard for a pf raise is 4bb +1 per limper, whats the standard for the c-bet on the flop?

[/ QUOTE ]

I make a PSB almost every time.

[/ QUOTE ]

well, you can probably give yourself a rebate on c-bets and not give anything away by balancing it with the times your practicing pot control.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sorry I don't follow what you mean. Could you elaborate please?

Re: Basic Theory - Raising preflop
 

I think open limping is fine at 25NL because the tables are generally so passive preflop. See a few more hands cheaply with your small SC's or Axs.

Re: Basic Theory - Raising preflop
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]


well, you can probably give yourself a rebate on c-bets and not give anything away by balancing it with the times your practicing pot control.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sorry I don't follow what you mean. Could you elaborate please?

[/ QUOTE ]

He means that there will occasionally be hands that you're betting for value but that you don't want to make a giant pot with - something like AJ in a raised pot on an AT4 rainbow board. With those hands, you might want to make a slightly smaller bet on the flop so that the pot stays smaller all along. If you're occasionally making bets somewhat less than pot for value, then you can make your c-bets somewhat less than pot and not have it be a total giveaway, although you're probably still leaking a little information. Whether most of your opponents will notice that at these levels is a good question (probably not, in most cases.)

Re: Basic Theory - Raising preflop
 

King Spew-

Interesting post. You're almost advocating a loose passive strategy that I see among countless micro players. You know the type, your 35/5s, 40/8s, etc. From some datamining, I have very large samples on these sort of loose passive types. Many with samples over 5k hands. I have often found, this is particularly true at 100NL and lower, is that many of these "loose passive" players do fairly well in the games. Sure they have glaring leaks, but in general I have found many of these players to be much better hand readers and better post-flop players than many 2p2ers at these stakes [img]/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img] It's funny when I look at 2p2ers with 18/13/4 type stats and see glaring postflop mistakes. These "Tight Aggressive" players wait so long for a decent hand, that they get far to attached to their hand postflop.

It was shocking to see these "TAG" 2p2 style players not beating the game!

The bottom line is that in NLHE, your preflop strategy is much less important than games such as Omaha 8/ob. A 50/20 may be just as profitable as a 20/16. There are many different styles of play, and while the old saying "Tight is right" is good for beginners, it is important to note that a tight preflop strategy is not the key to success in winning poker.


I've gotten off topic a bit here. So to adress the OP:

IMO the most important reasons for raising preflop are:

1. Betting initiative
2. Stacking donks [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] (You're much more likely to stack someone in a raised pot)

Re: Basic Theory - Raising preflop
 

[ QUOTE ]
These "Tight Aggressive" players wait so long for a decent hand, that they get far to attached to their hand postflop.


[/ QUOTE ]

This happens to me when I'm:
A) Card dead
B) Tired

The biggest improvement I have made in my game in the last 3 months is making good folds.

Re: Basic Theory - Raising preflop
 

wow - you start a thread - go to work for the day and when you get back it's enormous!

I'm sticking to preflop raising here - there will be another thread in this series soon that delves into C-Betting.

The way I see it we are raising preflop for a grand total of 4 reasons... there are other sub-reasons but I think everything comes under one of the following 4 headings...

i) for value - we have the best or something that is likely to be the best hand at the table and we bet to get money into the pot for us to win.

ii) for protection - we have a hand like Aces or Kings or AK that doesn't want to see a family pot, so we raise to thin the field and hopefully leave ourselves Heads Up after the flop comes down.

iii) for control we raise preflop sometimes to gain the initiative in the hand and setup a flop continuation bet/semi-bluff, and also to take control of position where you raise in the CO to try to fold the button, or when we raise after a bad player has limped in front of us so we can isolate them on the flop.

iv) as a bluff - sometimes we raise preflop as a bluff/semi-bluff in order to steal the blinds

I think everytime we raise preflop at a Micro Stake NL table it should be for one of those reasons.

So if we know why we are raising how much should we raise??

ideally you want to raise as much as you can and still get at least one caller (unless you are stealing blinds) so if we have AA ideally we want to push all-in preflop and get called.

If we are raising to isolate a bad player then we want to raise as much as possible so that everyone else folds but the limper.

Because a lot of decisions we make at a NL poker table are related to the size of the pot, raising the size of the pot preflop is a good idea. This cuts down the implied odds we offer to the villains - and it means that if they call generally they won't be getting much better preflop odds than 1-1. It turns out that a pot sized raise is roughly 4-5BB depending on what the exact blinds are.

And if there are limpers in front we need to increase our preflop raise to ensure that each limper after we raise is faced with a call where the pot is offering them very short odds.

So the 2p2 standard of 4BB +1BB per limper seems to be based on raising the size of the pot preflop in order to cut the odds as much as possible so that most villains facing our preflop raise will be making marginal/bad calls if they do decide to call our preflop raise, and the more mistakes we can make our opponents make in every hand the more money we win in the long run.

There's one last thing to consider - giving away information about our holdings. It is of paramount importance that however much we raise preflop that we do not tip our hand to the opponents.

If we push every AA we are dealt - bet 10BB+1 with KK 8BB +1 with QQ, before too long some of the opposition wil pickup on what our bet amounts mean so that we might as well turn our hand face up when we bet. Obviously this would be a disaster.

We have 2 choices - 1 use a fixed amount or some fixed formula to decide our preflop raise amount for each and every raise no matter what our cards are. 2. Vary the amount we raise pseudo-randomly everytime we are dealt a certain hand - e.g. raise 8BB usually (say 80% of the time) with AA, but sometimes only raise 4BB, and sometimes raise 8BB with 76s.

NLTAP advocates varying your raise amounts and mixing up your play to throw off the opposition, but I don't think that this is good advice for Microstakes.

The real game of poker is played postflop. Microstakes players are trying to learn an incredibly complex game. Postflop is what we ought really to be concentrating on learning. If you are taking time and effort out to make your preflop game the best it can be, then you are not spending the same time improving your postflop game.

NLTAP is not really meant for microstakes play. It assumes that you are playng against good observant opponents for example - almost noone of the players at microstakes are good OR observant, true they pay a little attention to what goes on - if you push 2 hands in a row preflop all-in and everyone folds and then push a 3rd hand all-in expect to get called, but thats very far away from being observant and picking up and exploiting your betting habits...

So I say stick like glue to the 4BB+1per limper standard raise. Forget about preflop play until later on in your poker career, we can tune the engine later right now we need to put the wheels on first..

Re: Basic Theory - Raising preflop
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
and doesn't NLTAP recommend varying your preflop raise amounts.. ?

[/ QUOTE ]

Actually, this standard naturally leads to varying your PF amount. That's kind of the beauty of it. When you raise it to 6bb with 2 limpers and 9bb with 5 limpers... I don't think most observers realize why your bet size is varying. So you have some deception.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is true but it's not what NLTAP advocates - and for lots of reasons, but mostly cos NLTAP was not written with microstakes in mind I say ignore NLTAP and stick to the 4BB+1 standard.

I'm pretty sure as well that many of my opponents can't quite figure out why my preflop raise amounts change a little here and there - I [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] the modicum of deception this formula gives me as well.

Re: Basic Theory - Raising preflop
 

matrix,

This thread is excellent. Here's my 2 pence (I just spoke British, heh):

Whenever you decide to raise pre-flop, have a default plan for how you intend to play the hand post flop if you 1) hit, 2) miss or 3) partially hit the board.

Have an idea of what you will do if villain shows aggression or is passive. Anyway, I do not want to hijack an excellent pre-flop thread with a lot of post thoughts, but I thought it was worth mentioning.

Cliff Notes: Before you raise pre-flop, have a post-flop plan.

Re: Basic Theory - Raising preflop
 

Quark said:
[ QUOTE ]
but in general I have found many of these players to be much better hand readers and better post-flop players than many 2p2ers at these stakes

[/ QUOTE ]

I find this to have some truth. Those LPPs become better hand readers because they play a lot of marginal hands and put themselves in marginal spots. Certainly not advocating a loose-passive game, but I notice this as well.

Re: Basic Theory - Raising preflop
 

[ QUOTE ]
Most of your money at micro stakes comes from two sources. The preflop raise followed by a cbet bet on the flop and pounding calling machines for as big a bet as you can get away with on every street. So let's take a look at these two situations.

(I'd like to note that these are over simplified but serve to prove a point)

1. C-bets

If you could guarantee that your opponents would fold the flop every time you cbet for any amount then you'd want as much money in the pot already and to then make a tiny bet to pick up the huge pot. Sadly this isn't the case because there is an upper limit to what most limping donkeys will call and the amount you need to bet to get them to lay down on the flop.

At a typical micro stakes table you will find the limpers happy to call raises up to around the 4BB + 1 per limper range. After that the amount they fold goes up dramatically, so what we are doing is putting as much as we can in the pot now so we can take an equal amount from them on the flop with our cbets. If you were to bet 3BB + 1 per limper when you could be making it 4BB then you are missing 1BB every time you take it with the cbet.


2. Pounding calling stations

You have AK and are up against a calling machine with KQ and you know that he can't let go of top pair unless you overbet the pot. Voila! The magic of creating whatever situation I want brings a flop of K82 rainbow. He checks, you pot it, he calls and the turn blanks. He checks, you pot it, he calls and the river blanks. You get as much as you can into the pot.

So how much is as much as you can?

Let's imagine the SB disappears in rake and that villain is in the BB to make the numbers easier. You raise the button to 3BB and he calls (pot is 6BB).

Going by the sequence above -

Flop (6BB) -> You bet 6BB he calls 6BB.
Turn (18BB) -> You bet 18BB he calls 18BB.
River (54BB) -> You bet 54BB he calls 54BB.

You take just over 80BBs from him but have to pot every street to do it. But when was the last time you were able to pot *every* street against someone like this?

Now imagine the same thing happens but you raise to 4BB preflop and he calls.

Flop (8BB) -> You bet 8BB, he calls 8BB.
Turn (24BB) -> You bet 24BB, he calls 24BB.
River (72BB) -> You push and he calls.

By raising 1BB more preflop we were able to pound the calling station for nearly 20BB more by the end (assuming 100BB stacks of course).

Yes, these numbers and situations are greatly simplified but hopefully they show the point of squeezing out that extra big blind preflop and why 4BB+1 per limper is better than 3BB+1per limper.

[/ QUOTE ]

great post. hadn't really considered the importance of that extra BB PF.

Re: Basic Theory - Raising preflop
 

I usually vary my bet size according to the number of limpers (either 3bb+1bb or 4+1). With some holdings, i think raising to 4bb regardless of the number of limpers may be the correct strategy with decent but not great hand which plays fairly well HU and also fiarly well in a multiway pot:

EG: 6-max 25NL table, hero is on the button with KJs

3 limpers, 1 fold.
I like a raise to $1 here because:

- If i raise more it is likely only dominating hands will call and i don't want to build a large pot with marginal holdings and reduce my implied odds too much
- On the other hand, by raising to $1 i have: taken the initiative, and i have position,
- value bet worse hands,
- driven out very weak hands,
- given myself nice implied odds if i hit a str8 draw or a flush draw ,assuming 2 or 3 calls (prob. the most likely scenario)